Anton Beard Nearly Beat Chris Paul One-on-One

I just got off the phone with Razorback signee Anton Beard’s dad and he gave a little of the back story to Anton’s one-on-one game against future Hall of Famer Chris Paul in the summer of 2012. It happened at one of the CP3 Youth Camps in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Beard had to win an in-house tournament involving about 15-20 high schoolers to earn the right to challenge Paul, Floyd Beard told me.

In the video below (shot by Beard’s mother) you will see Beard give Paul a good challenge. Granted, Paul isn’t playing 100%  – or anything near – but there are nonetheless promising signs: Beard’s strong frame helps hold Paul to 3 of 9 shooting, and he causes two turnovers. Beard ends up losing 3-2, after being up 2-0, but you can’t realistically hope for more from a rising high school junior against the best point guard in the world.

YouTube video

Beard admits he was a bit nervous playing against Paul, but it’s hard to tell from the clip. He adds that Paul is one of his basketball role models and indeed originally committed to Missouri because an assistant there – Tim Fuller – was Paul’s high school coach.

YouTube video

Beard has a long way to go before legit comparisons to Paul can be made – especially on the defensive side of the ball – but physically they are not far apart if we compare them as high schoolers. Paul is slightly taller and quicker (with much quicker hands), but Beard is stronger and has a more refined three point shot. Look for Beard to be given as big of an opportunity to star for the Hogs next season as Paul had for Wake Forest as a freshman.

The Hogs, after all, desperately need a prolific combo guard who can penetrate the lane and finish or kick out to marksmen like Ky Madden or Anthlon Bell.

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